Dear Requester,

I am writing further to your request for information dated 19 October 2023
to advise you that the information you requested is being withheld under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The exemptions which apply to this
information are Sections 31 (1) (a), 40 (2) and 41 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

Your request:

In terms of the Freedom of Information Act of 2000, and subject to section
40(2) on personal data, could you please provide me with your local
authority’s complete and most-recently updated list of all business
(non-residential) property rates data, including the following fields:

 

- Billing Authority Property Reference Code (linking the property to the
public VOA database reference)

- Firm's Trading Name (i.e. property occupant or ratepayer)

- Full Property Address (Number, Street, Postal Code, Town)

- Occupation / Vacancy status

- Date of Occupation / Vacancy

- Reliefs and / or exemption categories (classifications) granted or
applied

- Date that reliefs and / or exemption categories granted or applied

- Value of reliefs and / or exemption categories granted or applied (in
Pounds)

- Actual annual rates charged (in Pounds)

 

If you are unable to provide an absolute “Occupation / Vacancy” status,
please provide the balance of the information requested..

 

Please could you also provide a list of definitions for the codes for the
Exemptions and / or Reliefs you use.

 

The Council’s response:

 

Refusal Notice – Under Sections 31 (1) (a) [Law Enforcement], 40 (2)
[Personal Data] and 41 [Information provided in confidence] of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000

Please note that the Council has previously proactively published the
following datasets in relation to Business Rates, in order to be
transparent and accountable and respond efficiently to the large number of
Freedom of Information requests received for this type of information:

 

• A list of all businesses currently paying business rates
• Small Businesses Relief data
• A list of currently empty commercial property

 

However, in light of recent Information Tribunal and Information
Commissioner decisions, we have had to review our process for publication
of this information.

 

We refer to the Appeal Decision of the Information Rights First-tier
Tribunal - (Appeal Reference Number: EA/2018/0033) (Re Westminster) and
the Information Rights First-tier Tribunal – Appeal Reference Number:
EA/2018/0055 (Re Sheffield)

 

In these cases, the Tribunal found that information relating to empty
properties, the business name, dates of occupation/vacancy and actual
annual rates charged engaged the exemptions at section 31, 40(2) and 41 of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 

 

We have considered these exemptions when reviewing the following
categories of data held by Ipswich Borough Council:

 

·       Business Name

·       Correspondence address

·       Liability Start Date

·       Empty Property Relief

·       Empty Property Relief Start Date

·       Empty Property Exemption

·       Empty Property Exemption Start Date

·       All information relating to reliefs

 

Section 40(2) Personal data

 

Information relating to sole traders/partnerships is exempt from
disclosure under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA) (personal data).  The Tribunal decisions referred to above confirms
that trading names and addresses are personal data as they relate to a
living individual and the individual is identifiable from those data. 
This section of the Act provides an exemption to the general right of
access to information, where the disclosure of personal information would
breach any of the Data Protection principles. The Council considers that
disclosure of this information would constitute a breach of the fairness
requirement of the first principle.  This is because the individuals in
question have not consented to the disclosure of the information. In
addition, they have a reasonable expectation that the Council will keep
their information confidential.

 

This is an absolute exemption and therefore does not require the Council
to apply a public interest test.

 

Section 31 (1) (a) Law Enforcement

 

We believe that the withheld information also engages the exemption at
section 31 of the Act.  We consider that disclosure of this information
would increase the risk of fraud and that the provision of a list of empty
properties would make it easier for criminals to identify targets for
property crimes.  As a result, we consider that disclosure of this
information would be likely to prejudice the prevention of crime.

 

Public Interest Test

Section 31(1)(a) is a qualified exemption, and therefore is subject to the
Public Interest Test.  Information can only be withheld if the public
interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in
disclosure.  In assessing where the balance of the public interest lies in
this instance, the Council has considered the following arguments for and
against disclosure.

 

The Council is aware that there is public interest in transparency around
its application of business rates.  It is also aware of the public
interest in disclosure of business rates and relief data in order to
assist businesses whose line of work is to assist businesses who may be
eligible to claim reliefs but are not, and that the empty building list is
of assistance to businesses searching for premises and that there is
public interest in vacant buildings coming back into use as beneficial to
the local economy and for the character of the area.

 

However, the Council is also mindful of the following:

 

• That fraud will incur cost in terms of money and resources to the
council, other public authorities and legitimate businesses.  This
will take the form of financial loss to the Council and the cost of
any enforcement actions and would be likely to result in the Council
having to increase expenditure on any checking systems they currently
have.
• Giving criminals assistance in identifying targets would also result
in costs in terms of time and resources for the Council and other
public authorities, such as the police, HMCTS and fire services should
buildings be targeted. It would also place considerable costs onto the
owners of those buildings if, for example, they had to seek legal
remedies for squatting, repairing of damage and loss of ability to
attract tenants while these issues are resolved. There is strong
public interest in prevention of crime.
• Whilst the Council accepts the public interest arguments for releasing
the information to businesses whose intent is to use the information
for legitimate purposes, responses made under Freedom of Information
are made to the world at large and therefore would be accessible to
anyone who requested the information, including those with nefarious
intent and the Council cannot differentiate.  If disclosed, the
Council would have no means of preventing individuals with such
intentions from obtaining the information. Therefore, the Council has
concluded that it can no longer make the information available to any
requester.

 

Conclusion

 

Although the Council aims to be transparent and accountable to the public,
we consider that the limited public interest in disclosure is outweighed
by the very significant public interest in maintaining the exemption.  We
consider that disclosure of this detail into the public domain would
increase the risk of both fraudulent activities relating to account
information and increase the risk of squatting and or criminal damage in
relation to empty properties.  The Council is satisfied that the public
interest for withholding the datasets outweighs that of disclosure and
therefore has applied this exemption.

 

Section 41: Information provided in confidence.

 

We also consider that section 41 of the act is also engaged.  This
information contains the status of individual ratepayer accounts and can
include the name, property and billing address, periods of liability,
contact telephone numbers, and whether exemptions and reliefs might have
been applied to those accounts.

 

This information was provided to the Council with an expectation of
confidence for the purposes of calculating rates or reliefs.  We consider
that the withheld information is more than trivial in nature and is not
accessible to the public by other means.  The information was provided to
the Council in relation to the Council’s duty to collect council tax.  As
a result, we consider that we owe a duty to the providers of that
information not to use it for purposes other than for which it was
provided. 

 

Although the Council aims to be transparent and accountable to the public,
we believe that taking into account recent Decision Notices and Tribunal
decisions, there is insufficient public interest to warrant the disclosure
of information which has been provided to the Council with the expectation
of confidence.  Additionally, we consider that this information contains
personal data that we are unable to disclose, together with information
which if disclosed would increase the risk of fraudulent activity relating
to business rates accounts and squatting or criminal damage regarding
empty properties. 

 

This is an absolute exemption and therefore does not require the Council
to apply a public interest test.

 

Conclusion

 

As a result, we are unable to disclose this information at this time.

 

Advice and guidance

 

Please note that the following information is already available in the
public domain via the Valuation Office:

 

·       Property Reference

·       Description of the Property (e.g. ‘Hall and Premises’ ‘Store &
Premises etc.)

·       Property Address (with any personal data removed)

·       Current Rateable Value

·       Current Rateable Value Effective Date

 

Please see information
at: [1]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

 

If you have any queries about this email, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number FOI202324454 in any future
communications.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision,
you should write to the Monitoring Officer, Grafton House, 15-17 Russell
Road, Ipswich IP1 2DE, within 40 working days of the date of response.
Please note that we are not obliged to accept requests for internal
reviews after this date.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for a decision.
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
complaints procedure provided by the Council.

Kind regards

 

Information Officer

[2][Ipswich Borough Council request email]

 

Ipswich Borough Council

Grafton House

15 – 17 Russell Road

Ipswich

IP1 2DE

[3]www.ipswich.gov.uk
[4]www.facebook.com/IpswichGov
[5]www.twitter.com/IpswichGov

 

 

 

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